The Wall › Panel 43E › Pennsylvania › Joseph James Melnyk JR
JOSEPH JAMES MELNYK JR
Private First Class · U.S. Army
November 24, 1947 – March 7, 1968
Service recordJoseph James Melnyk JR, of Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, served as a Private First Class in the U.S. Army. He died on March 7, 1968, in Gia Dinh Province, South Vietnam, at age 20. His name is inscribed on Panel 43E, Line 47 of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
On the Wall
Panel 43E · Line 47
Names are inscribed in the order of loss, starting at Panel 1E at the apex and ending at Panel 1W. At the Memorial, find the panel number at the base and count down from the top line.
Remember
Did you know him? Family members and friends are invited to share a photograph or a memory. Nothing is posted until it has been reviewed.
Service
- Branch
- U.S. Army
- Rank
- Private First Class (PFC)
- Service
- Drafted (Selective Service)
- Occupation
- Medical Specialist (91B)
- Unit (as recorded)
- 25 INF DIV
- Born
- November 24, 1947
- Home of record
- Burgettstown, Pennsylvania (Washington County)
Casualty
- Date of death
- March 7, 1968
- Age
- 20
- Province
- Gia Dinh
- Country
- South Vietnam
- Casualty type
- Hostile
- Category
- Killed in Action
- Circumstance
- Unknown
Context · from the records
What was happening
55 names on the Wall carry the date March 7, 1968; six of them were lost in Gia Dinh Province. In March 1968, 1,767 Americans whose names are on the Wall died in the war.
The 25th Infantry Division, his unit in the record, lost 188 of its members that month.
He died in Gia Dinh Province while the Tet Offensive was under way. Beginning on the night of 30–31 January 1968, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese forces attacked more than 100 cities and towns across South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. February 1968 was the deadliest month of the war for Americans.
Also on Panel 43E, Line 47
- BEN MCCOULLOUGH JRPrivate First Class · March 7, 1968
- WILLIAM JEFFREY MULDOVANLance Corporal · March 7, 1968
- CHARLES HOWARD RAMPLEYSpecialist Four · March 7, 1968
- DANIEL DAVID WEBBPetty Officer Third Class · March 7, 1968
Same unit, same day
- STEPHEN FLOYD BOOTHSpecialist Four · Panel 43E, Line 41
- DAN SELLMAN HICKSSpecialist Four · Panel 43E, Line 44
- CHARLES WAYNE JONESPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 46
- HOYLE MARTINSpecialist Four · Panel 43E, Line 46
- CHARLES HOWARD RAMPLEYSpecialist Four · Panel 43E, Line 47
- LOWELL TODD PETERSONPrivate First Class · Panel 43E, Line 49
From Burgettstown
- LOUIS JAMES ORISONStaff Sergeant · February 6, 1968
- MICHAEL WILLIAM CAMPOSSpecialist Four · March 26, 1968
- RICHARD LEE WINDSHEIMERCorporal · July 30, 1969
- FLOYD STEPHEN GIEBELLSergeant · October 31, 1969
Source. U.S. Department of Defense, Defense Casualty Analysis System, Vietnam Conflict Extract Data File (as of April 29, 2008), Records of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Record Group 330, National Archives (NAID 2240992). Panel and line as recorded in that file. This page presents the official record and its historical context; no biography has been written for him yet. See something wrong? Report a correction.
